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Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway

Play trailer Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway 1976 1h 40m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Fed up with the constant humiliation she endures from her alcoholic mother, teenager Dawn Wetherby (Eve Plumb) decides to run away from home to what she believes will be a better life in Hollywood, Calif. Upon arriving, however, she quickly finds that no one will employ a girl so young, and in no time is led into a life of prostitution by smooth-talking pimp Swan (Bo Hopkins). Despite her dire circumstances, she finds solace in her friendship with a male hustler named Alex (Leigh McCloskey).

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Jeff M The obvious interest here is watching "Jan Brady" evolve from harried middle daughter to teenage prostitute. Once that novelty fades, it becomes an unconvincing, unrealistic experience, more like an Afterschool Special than a movie. In fact, what it really reminds me of is when sitcoms during this era would do "very special episodes" in which they dropped the laughs for 22 minutes and delved into serious topics like child molesters or drunk driving or sexual assault. One can applaud Plumb for wanting to ditch her Brady image, but she is not a strong enough actress to bring Dawn to life, and the filmmakers are either unwilling or perhaps unable to bring true grit to the story. The worst scenes involve Dawn's addicted mother back home who treats her daughter's runaway as if it were a two-week jaunt to summer camp. There isn't a single moment here that rings true. Incidentally, director Kleiser would soon meet with enormous cinematic success with a couple theatrical films about other teenagers - GREASE and THE BLUE LAGOON. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/17/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway

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Movie Info

Synopsis Fed up with the constant humiliation she endures from her alcoholic mother, teenager Dawn Wetherby (Eve Plumb) decides to run away from home to what she believes will be a better life in Hollywood, Calif. Upon arriving, however, she quickly finds that no one will employ a girl so young, and in no time is led into a life of prostitution by smooth-talking pimp Swan (Bo Hopkins). Despite her dire circumstances, she finds solace in her friendship with a male hustler named Alex (Leigh McCloskey).
Director
Randal Kleiser
Producer
Douglas S. Cramer
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 40m